The COVID-19 pandemic brought global tourism to a standstill for months. This has highlighted the vital importance of the sector for Europe, as tourism accounted for around 12.5% of Europe’s GDP before Covid-19. It also demonstrated the effect that the paralysis of the travel industry can have on the world as a whole.
In a framework of optimism for the progressive recovery of the sector, a new edition of the Tourism Innovation Summit was held in Seville, Spain. The aim of the summit was to provide national and international tourism companies with the keys to recovering travel activity and international demand through the design of new strategies, most of which involve digitalisation.
The event in Seville brought together the main tourism and digital players on the Spanish and international scene. As one of the leading companies in the digitalisation of the tourism sector, among others, Globant was not missing in this context. Globant’s support for tourism crosses borders thanks to multiple tech tools and the best experts and engineers, making it possible to materialise ideas that boost tourism industry businesses.
During the summit, Globant’s experts unveiled the keys to boost tourism businesses with the digitisation of processes and data analysis.
How to boost your company through Marketing and Digital Sales
Few companies have been able to see and adapt to the modified customer behavior at the digital level as a result of the pandemic. They are unable to execute appropriate campaigns that not only attract but also guide their potential customers through the digital customer journey. To do this, marketing has to be aligned with technology, and this in turn has to be accompanied by comprehensive data analysis.
Our Head of the Digital Sales Studio, Pablo Monge, explained the need to use data and Artificial Intelligence in Digital Marketing to reinvent organizations in the hospitality sector based on 3 fundamental actions:
- Using technology to collect data and unify knowledge. This allows us to create hyper-personalised and targeted campaigns, translating into better results.
- Using technology for activation, connecting different MartTech tools to impact the user at the right time and in the right way.
- Generating an end-to-end Customer Journey where the use of data and technology helps us overcome the traditional boundaries of digital marketing and sales.
Learn more about how Digital Marketing can boost tourism businesses.
When tourism and hospitality meet diversity
On the second day of the event, we had the opportunity to attend a round table discussion on the importance and benefits of diversity and inclusion in the tourism sector. The panel discussion, moderated by Rika Jean François, Head of CSR, Sustainability and Human Rights at Messe Berlin, featured the perspectives of Celi Carreño, Head of EMEA Product Studio at Globant, Carine Girard, VP Talent & Culture at Accor, Diego Calvo, CEO and Co-Founder of Concept Hotel Group, and Carol Hay, CEO of McKenzie Gayle Limited. The discussion brought to light the discrimination that is still taking place all over the world.
Diego Calvo, CEO of the Concept Hotel Group, spoke about the importance of feeling free, which is what he wants his guests to experience during their stay on the Balearic island. The Concept Hotel Group aims to promote local Ibizan culture by supporting the island’s artists.
Carol Hay, CEO and Founder of McKenzie Galey, the marketing representation agency of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Limited, the only network of Caribbean industry members in the UK, shared a stark speech about the reality of racial discrimination in the world, and how she and her family have experienced it in Europe.
Celi Carreño (Globant) and Carine Girard (Accor) focused on the importance of gender inclusion and how companies should encourage the growth and career plan of women. As it’s a sector made up of mostly men, at Globant, we have several initiatives to promote the growth of our employees who are women, as well as initiatives to recognise professionals in the technology world who are women. An example of this is Globant’s Women that Build Awards, which recognise inspiring women leaders who help create real change in the inclusion environment.
Globant has a number of important inclusion initiatives. The Be Kind to your peers programme is one example, focusing on strengthening awareness and understanding of Globers, so that all Globers can bring their true and unique essence to work.
In conclusion, as Carol Hay described in her speech, diversity is about everyone being invited to the party, but inclusion is about everyone being able to dance, and that is the fundamental goal in the fight against discrimination.
The importance of AI to increase our sales
Irene Medina, Head of Marketing at Walmeric Globant, explained to the TIS2021 audience during the second day of the event how to boost marketing and sales with the use of Artificial Intelligence. She introduced 4 fundamental pillars to accomplish this goal:
- Track the origin of each lead, from its online to offline footprint.
- Score and prioritize lead management according to the possibility of conversion.
- Convert through automated campaigns, optimising audiences with the support of data.
- Attribution and integration of the digital ecosystem to understand where the potential for retribution lies.
Irene Medina used a success story in the tourism sector to exemplify how the use of AI can help improve lead management, achieve higher useful contact rates and personalise services, increasing the chances of booking. Thanks to artificial intelligence, we can reduce time invested and obtain better results, achieving greater optimisation of the investment.
Sustainability as a strategic axis for the sector
The importance of digitalisation for the future of the tourism sector was discussed at the Summit, but sustainability also played a major role. In the debate on the importance of moving towards sustainable transformation, Celiana Carreño, Globant’s Head of EMEA Product Studio, demonstrated how Globant, through studios such as the Sustainable Business Studio, led by Elena Morettini and supported by others such as the Product Studio, transforms companies from within, accelerating the change towards sustainability through technology.
To this end, Ceci Carreño spoke to us about the 4 pillars of sustainability: carbon management and technology, climate finance and ESG reporting, human growth, and business legitimacy.
All this is achieved through Globant’s sustainable consulting services, where a series of practices are put in place to help companies achieve their sustainability goals, promoting transparency and awareness at all levels of the organisation.
To accomplish this, Globant offers its clients the green technology needed to create more sustainable digital ecosystems, as companies need to reduce the energy consumption of the software they design and build. Our role in this regard is always to understand our clients’ strategies and to help them map their sustainability profile through our internal proxy system based on market intelligence.
Based on our active participation in TIS 2021, we could say that Globant’s presence in events like this, which combine the importance of technology and digitalisation for the future of tourism, is essential to show attendees how Globant’s solutions and consulting services can help boost their businesses at a key moment for the sector.
Globant is reinventing how brands engage with their guests, designing memorable and fulfilling experiences as they simultaneously reimagine the industry and resume operations. Learn how at our new Tourism & Hospitality Studio site!
